Now Comes the Night
by E. Limberg
Summary: Mac is dying after being shot. He and Stella talk while he is in the hospital; the situation brings out feelings that they share. But now it's too late. Stella doesn't think she has the courage to live without him. Really sad. Character deaths. MS.


**Now Comes the Night**

"_When the hour is upon us_

_And our beauty surely gone_

_No, you will not be forgotten_

_And you will not be alone_

_No, you will not be alone"_

"Stella," Flack jogs down the hallway to catch up to her.

"What do you need, Don?"

"They found Mac. He… he was shot, and it… doesn't look so good."

She drops the mug in her hand, and as it crashes to the floor, it breaks, sending glass and coffee everywhere. "He… no, it can't…"

"I got a helicopter to get you over there. You should be with him." She stays put, frozen at the thought of losing her best friend. He grabs her arm and pulls her down the hallway, leading her to the helicopter pad where it is waiting to take off. Stella, still being in shock, just stands there so he shoves her inside before getting in next to her.

Less than ten minutes later, the pair is racing down the hallway to the room their boss is in. They look through the window of the room first to make sure they won't be in the way. No doctor is inside. Mac, however, looks very frail, multiple machines hooked up to him. His eyes are closed.

"Is he still alive?" she fights back the tears. They enter, and the beeping of the heart monitor answers her question. "Mac?"

Sheldon, who had been sitting beside the bed, stands. Slowly he shakes his head. "They can't do anything. One bullet… went through his lung, and it's deflated. The other punctured his other lung, and it's filling… filling up with blood. He's basically… drowning… in his own blood."

"How long does… he have?" Don asks quietly.

Hawkes shrugs, "They're not sure, but it looks like less than an hour."

Stella stands beside her partner, clutching his hand. "You can't leave me, Mac. Please…"

"The doctor said all we can do is say our goodbyes and wait. Danny… and Lindsay are… coming as fast as they can."

"Stel?" Flack says. She slowly turns her head towards them. "We'll be waiting outside."

"_And when the day has all but ended_

_And our echo starts to fade_

_No, you will not be alone then_

_And you will not be afraid_

_No, you will not be afraid"_

A doctor enters the room, and she snaps. "Why aren't you doing anything for him?" she yells.

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do other than make this as painless as possible for him."

"Not if you're just going to stand there and watch him die. Take him into surgery and remove the bullet and do everything you can to keep his lungs from filling up with blood."

"There's nothing we can do to stop -"

"There's always something you can do. You have to at least try."

"Stel," a faint voice behind her says.

"Mac…" she turns around to face him, going to his side.

"They can't do anything… I can't be saved…"

"Yes, you can. You have to be… _I need you_, Mac."

"No… it's… you have to take charge for me. I… can't…"

"You'll be fine. If these damn doctors would actually do something, you wouldn't be dying."

"Stel… listen to me… There's nothing anyone can… do in order to help me. Just… stay with me… please, Stella," he reaches out a pale hand.

She takes it, finally realizing how bad the situation is. "I… Mac, you're the only friend I've ever had. You can't leave me here all alone."

"I don't want… to."

"What are we going to do without you? You always support us and… stand up for us when something goes wrong… and… we need you. New York needs you, Mac. How many criminals are going to get away without you… here to stop them?"

"That's what you're for… You'll be a good supervisor, Stel." He coughs violently, and she glances at the monitors he's hooked up to in order to make sure his heart is still beating.

She squeezes his cold hand between hers. "I'm scared, Mac." Tears glide down her cheek as she sees him dying in front of her.

"_And when the fog has finally lifted_

_From my cold and tired brow_

_No, I will not leave you crying_

_No, I will not let you down_

_No, I will not let you down_

_I will not let you down"_

"Don't be scared, Stella," Mac says, his voice not above a whisper. "You'll have Danny… and Lindsay and Hawkes… and Don… and everyone else."

"But they're not you."

"I'll be… in your heart… guiding you. You deserve this…"

"No, I don't. It's yours, Mac. If it takes you dying for me to have it, I don't want it."

He reaches up to wipe her tears away. "Don't cry. I'm not leaving you…"

"Yes, you are." She takes a deep breath. "I've… loved you since I met you, Mac. I just… thought you should know since…"

"I… I love you too," he whispers. "You're a great woman, Stel. And an inspiration. Don't let them push… you around because you're… a woman. You're better than they are."

He begins coughing again, and the beeping of his heart slows down. "Stay with me," she kisses his forehead.

"Be strong… Stel. Catch the guy… that did this to me. Don't cry… I'll always be with you… And don't be… afraid," he closes his eyes.

"Mac," she says urgently, thinking he's dying now.

His blue eyes meet hers again. "I can't last much… longer… tell the others… tell them I'm proud of them… and… good luck…"

"I'm going to miss you, Mac."

"Don't… forget me, Stel."

"It'd be impossible to…"

"I love you… Stella… See you… in heaven…"

"No, please, God. Don't take him from me. What did I do to deserve this? What did he do to deserve this?" She wraps her arms around him.

Mac takes a deep breath, "Goodbye… Stella." His eyes flutter close, and his chest does not rise again. The computer stops beeping, giving instead a long tone indicating his heart ceasing to beat.

"Bye," she whispers back, clutching his lifeless form.

Several nurses and a doctor rush in, having received a signal at their station that his heart stopped. They decide to leave his body be and give them a few moments to say goodbye.

While Stella grieves inside, the other members of the team are outside the door, Lindsay crying, the others with tears stinging their eyes at having lost such a dear friend.

"_Now comes the night_

_Feel it fading away_

_And the soul underneath_

_Is it all that remains_

_So just slide over here_

_Leave your fear in the fray_

_Let us hold to each other_

_'Til the end of our days"_

"I don't think we should leave her by herself tonight. We… don't want to lose her too," Lindsay quietly says while they stand outside Mac's room. Stella is still inside, clinging to his lifeless body.

"I'll stay with her," Don volunteers. "You guys go on home, and I'll get her." They say goodbye to each other before he heads inside the room.

Stella briefly looks up to see who was invading on her and Mac before turning the other way. "Go away. I'm fine."

"You can't hold onto him forever… Eventually he'll start to decompose…" This just makes her cry harder. "Come on, Stel. You have to let him go," Don gently takes her arms and pries her away from Mac's body.

Eventually she gives up, clutching him instead. He leads her out of the hospital and hails them a cab, taking her home.

"I'm going to go take a shower. You… can… I don't know. I don't know why you insisted on coming home with me," she unlocks her apartment door.

"I just want to make sure you're safe and don't do anything stupid."

She wipes her eyes; the tears hadn't stopped yet. She doesn't think they ever will. "Whatever."

Don is sitting on her couch when he hears a thump come from the bathroom. He stands, frowning, and goes to the door, knocking. "Stel?"

When he doesn't get a response, he opens the door. She lies on the floor, her clothes still on and soaked. Blood squirts from her wrist and seeps out from a long, jagged cut on her forearm.

"What did you do?" he grabs her wrist, trying to cover the tiny cut with his fingers to slow the bleeding.

She refuses to look at him. "I… I can't do this. I need Mac."

"Stel, he's gone. There's nothing anyone can do to bring him back."

"I thought I could do it, but I… I didn't have the courage to." The razor blade slips from her other hand.

He pulls his phone out and calls for help. "We can't afford to lose you too, Stella."

"Let me die. I can't go on without him. Let me see him again," she tries to pull away from him.

Flack sighs, "Are you sure that's what you want? If you want to be with him, I'll let you."

"Yes, I loved him Don. And now he's gone. I can't… I have no reason to be here."

"You're job is to catch criminals, and you're good at it. What will happen without you and Mac here? The city will be worse than ever."

"Tell the others I'm sorry, but I just couldn't go on without Mac. They'll understand. And, Don, don't blame yourself. I wanted this."

"You're positive?" he asks again.

"Let me go, Flack."

He does so, and the blood continues to gush from her wrist. He sits beside her, pulling her body close to him. He knows she is dead when the blood stops squirting from her wrist, indicating that her heart has stopped. He fights the urge to save her.

**Night**

"What are you doing here?" Mac asks.

"I couldn't do it," Stella embraces him. "You mean too much to me."

"Let's go find Claire. She'll be happy to see us."

"_When the hour is upon us_

_And our beauty surely gone_

_No, you will not be forgotten_

_And you will not be alone_

_No, you will not be alone"_

**A/N: I'd like to say this was inspired by the hundredth episode... but I had it written before that was shown. I really liked this song so I decided to write a story for it. Hopefully Stella wouldn't commit suicide if Mac died but... I had to have them together in the end. Anyway... I've been really busy between English homework and Calculus homework. I was so proud of myself though... I got an A on my math test last week. I thought I was going to fail. I don't think I've gotten an A on an English test yet though. Maybe Friday will be the day. Probably not... maybe I did on the last test. That's probably more of a not. He still hasn't posted those grades yet and it was before Thanksgiving. Actually, I think I got like an eighty-nine on the essay part of the middle ages test and a ninety-four on the multiple choice part so if you put them together... I think it's an A. As long as I keep my A in math I don't care if I get a B in English. So... I will stop talking now. Must get ready to watch NY. My next story is a three chapter one about Christmas kind of. Or it takes place then. So I want to have it up by Christmas Eve. I should post the first chapter Saturday or Sunday when I have time. I have to come up with a title first. Thanks for reading. Please review.**


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